Finding 1179165 (2025-003)

Material Weakness Repeat Finding
Requirement
B
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2025
Accepted
2026-03-12

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: Duplicate payroll costs were charged to the ESSER III grant, violating federal guidelines.
  • Impacted Requirements: Costs must be necessary, reasonable, and properly documented as per 2 CFR §200.403.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Implement stronger review procedures for grant expenditures to prevent future duplicates.

Finding Text

Finding 2025-003 Duplicate expenditures charged to same grant Federal Program: Education Stabilization Fund – ESSER III ALN 84.425U Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Federal Award Year: 2021 Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency Noncompliance Criteria: In accordance with 2 CFR §200.403 (Factors affecting allowability of costs), costs charged to federal awards must be:  Necessary and reasonable for the performance of the federal award;  Allocable to the award;  Consistent with policies and procedures applied uniformly to both federally financed and other activities;  Adequately documented; and  Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in the Uniform Guidance or the terms of the award. Condition: During our testing of expenditures charged to ESSER III, we identified costs that were not allowable under the Uniform Guidance (2 CFR Part 200) and the terms and conditions of the federal award. Specifically, payroll expenditures were charged twice to the grant for one payroll period. Cause and Effect: The condition appears to be the result of inadequate review procedures over expenditures charged to the federal program. Without proper internal controls, the District cannot prevent duplicate expenditures from being charged to a grant. Failure to properly review expenditures charged can result in noncompliance with federal requirements. Questioned Costs: The identified cost of $1,593 is less than 5 percent of the total program expenditures of $1,269,440. This is not considered a material noncompliance instance. Recommendation: We recommend the District establish and maintain proper review procedures for expenditures charged to grants prior to submission for reimbursement. Management’s views: Management agrees with the finding. See corrective action plan on page 95.

Corrective Action Plan

Finding 2025-003 Duplicate expenditures charged to same grant Recommendation: We recommend the District establish and maintain proper review procedures for expenditures charged to grants prior to submission for reimbursement. Management’s View: The District will strengthen internal controls over payroll expenditures charged to federal grants by implementing a standard operating procedure that will be conducted by the Payroll Specialist of verifying payroll distribution reports, funding codes, and supporting documentation prior to submission for payment. Before each payroll is finalized, the payroll specialist will run a payroll report that will be generated and sorted by employee to verify that no duplicate charges have been applied to the same grant within the same payroll period. This review will ensure that all costs charged to federal grants during the pay period are accurate, allowable, properly coded, and not duplicated. No payroll adjustments will be keyed until timesheets have been verified against previously submitted timesheets and that they are reviewed to confirm that prior entries have not already been charged to the same grant. Additionally, a secondary review by the accountant will be conducted prior to finalizing grant-related payrolls. Effective March 1, 2026, the Payroll Accountant and Chief Financial Officer will review grant-related payroll transactions to ensure accuracy, proper funding allocation, and compliance with applicable federal requirements. Effective Date: March 1, 2026 Contact Person: Sylvia Garza, Chief Financial Officer, Edcouch-Elsa Independent School District

Categories

Allowable Costs / Cost Principles Cash Management Significant Deficiency Internal Control / Segregation of Duties

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
10.553 SCHOOL BREAKFAST PROGRAM $1.68M
84.425 EDUCATION STABILIZATION FUND $1.27M
84.027 SPECIAL EDUCATION GRANTS TO STATES $799,760
10.565 COMMODITY SUPPLEMENTAL FOOD PROGRAM $547,762
84.367 SUPPORTING EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTION STATE GRANTS (FORMERLY IMPROVING TEACHER QUALITY STATE GRANTS) $379,572
84.010 TITLE I GRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES $290,292
84.424 STUDENT SUPPORT AND ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT PROGRAM $207,845
84.011 MIGRANT EDUCATION STATE GRANT PROGRAM $187,163
93.600 HEAD START $172,776
84.048 CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION -- BASIC GRANTS TO STATES $92,979
10.582 FRESH FRUIT AND VEGETABLE PROGRAM $83,204
84.047 TRIO UPWARD BOUND $81,576
12.000 ISSUE OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE EXCESS EQUIPMENT $67,938
93.778 MEDICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM $47,927
84.287 TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY COMMUNITY LEARNING CENTERS $42,907
10.555 NATIONAL SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM $18,577
84.196 EDUCATION FOR HOMELESS CHILDREN AND YOUTH $4,669
84.173 SPECIAL EDUCATION PRESCHOOL GRANTS $4,099
84.365 ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACQUISITION STATE GRANTS $1,187